Electric regulator with diaphragm type spring



p 1949- c. J. JENNY ET AL 7 2,481,752

ELECTRIC REGULATOR WITH DIAPHRAGM TYPE SPRING Filed May 15, 1946 -INVENTOR$ [L ETUS J. JEN/V) THU/1W5 E P RE -AT TORNEY- Patented Sept. 13 1949 Cletus J. Jenny, Clifton,

III, Upper'Montclair, N.

Aviation Corporation, poration of Delaware and Thomas F. Pryor, J-., assignors to Bendix Teterboro, N. 1., a cor- Application May 15, 1946,. Serial No; 6695780 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to electrical regulators and deals primarily with the so-called carbon pile typeJ At the present time carbon. pile regulators have come into widespread use for such purposes as controlling the voltage of the output of generators and also in the governing of currents.

All of these carbon pile regulators operate on the principle of varying the pressure applied to the carbon pile; the range of effective pressure on the pile being the regulating range of the regulator.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel improved cup-shapedv diaphragm type spring having but a single part which can be punched out in a singledrawing or pressing operation and particularly adapted for use in varying the pressure applied to thecarbon pile in response to an electroma'gnet.

The force of the electromagnet is rendered effective .on. the spring through an armature centrally mounted thereon and the cup-shaped diaphragm type spring is'arranged so as to tend to urge the armature towards the pile, while the magnetic force tends to withdraw the armature from the pile. The cup-shaped diaphragm type spring is so designed as to approximately vary the force exerted b the spring so as to match changes in the opposing force of the magnet due to variance in the distance between the armature and the magnet and thereby effect a basic correspondence with changes in the magnetic force which is non-linearin character.

Another object of the present invention is to simplify and improve the spring construction of the aforenoted diaphragm so as to provide a carbon pile regulator which may bemanu'factured easily and cheaply, which is -accurate and reliable in operation: over a wide range and embodies simplicity with lightness and low cost of production.

These and other objects and features of the invention are pointed out in the following description interms of the embodiment thereof which is shown in the accompanying drawing. It is to be understood, however, that the drawing is for the purpose of illustration only, and is not designed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims for this purpose.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a regulator embodying one form of the invention.

Figure 2 is a top plane view of the novel cupshaped diaphragm spring.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a second form in which the invention may be embodied.

Referring to the drawing; of Figure 1, there is provided a bottom plate I on which is mounted a casing 2. The bottom plate and casing! are formed of a suitable retro-magnetic. material. .A, core 5 of similar material. projects from the bottom plate I into an electromagnetic winding I wound about the core 5. and positioned within the casing 2.

Positioned on the casing 2 is an annular member In which is fastened to the bottom plate I by suitable screws l2, one of which is shown inthe drawing.

A housing 2.0 is fastened to the annular member In by studs 19'. The housing 20 maybe of'a type such as shown in the copending application Serial No. 570,002, filed December 27:, 1944*, now Patent No. 2,427,805, issued September 23, 1947, by William G. Neild.

Mounted within the housing 20 as shown in greater detail in the aforenoted application, is a non-conducting tube 25 of av suitable refractory material, such as porcelain. The tubular member 25 carries carbon discs 30 forming a carbon pile. A contactor member 35 is positioned between one end.- of the carbon pile 30 and an armature plate 36. The contactor member 3.5 is positioned ina cup-shaped securing member 40 mounted on the armature. plate 35.

The armature plate 36-, as shown in Figure 1, is positioned at one side of a diaphragm spring 45. At the opposite side. of the diaphragm spring 45 positioned a second armature plate 48 and the diaphragm 45 isclamped between the armature plates 36 and 48 by suitable fasteningscrews;

As shown in Figure 1, the diaphragm 45" has an annular cup-shaped body portion 49 which extends downward and is flared outwardly in the formof anannular' flange 50. The fiange'50 rests upon the upper endof the casing 2 of the electromagnet I andis positioned within the annular member III as best shown in Figure l.

Formed in the diaphragm 45 in spaced relation to the annular body portion 49 and the armature plate 48 are suitable annular kinks or corrugations 53, 54 and 55.

The annular corrugations 53, 54 and 55 each have a diflerent diameter and the same may be formed of a different depth so that each corrugation has a different spring rate than the others and a value such that as the armature moves towards the core 5 there is developed within the diaphragm 45 non-linear stress conditions.

The stress conditions developed in the diaphragm 45 increase at such a rate as to correspond with and substantially balance the increase in the magnetic force applied to the armature, which magnetic force increases in excess of a linear relation as the armature 48 approaches the pole piece 5 and at a rate approximately inversely as the square of the distance between the armature and magnet.

The improved diaphragm 45 including the annular corrugations 53, 54 and 55, body' portion 49 and flange 50 is formed in one part and is conveniently punched out in a single drawing or pressing operation. Thus the cup-shaped diaphragm forms a much simpler spring arrange ment than heretofore known for effecting the operation described, and a spring which may be formed at very low cost.

In operation, the cup-shaped diaphragm 45 rests upon the casing 2 and flexibly supports the armature 48 so that axial movement of the armature is accommodated by the kinks or corrugations 53, 54 and 55 formed in the diaphragm spring 45.

It has been found that by providing the diaphragm spring 45 of suitable material and thickness and the corrugations of proper depth basic correspondence with the varying magnet pull may be eiiected due to the stress conditions developed in the diaphragm 45 which increase at a rate in excess of a linear relation as the armature 48 approaches the core 5.

In Figure 3, there is illustrated a second form in which the invention may be embodied and in which like numerals indicate like parts.

In the latter form of the invention, the annular flange 50 may have an upturned edge 69 which provides a U-section so that accurate centering may be obtained by the portion 60 and thus accurate axial zeroing is obtained from the portion 50. 7

Operation of the form shown in Figure 3 is otherwise fundamentally the same as that shown in Figure 1.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there has been provided a novel and compact armature spring arrangement of such simplicity oi construction as to readily adapt the same for manufacture and installation at low cost.

Although only two embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, various changes in the form and relative arrangements of the parts, which will now appear to those skilled in the art, may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Reference is, therefore, to be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an electric regulator of the type including a variable resistance element, an electromagnet having an essentially non-lineariorce characteristic, and an armature operated by said electromagnet and operably connected to said variable '4 resistance element; the improvement comprising a .one piece annular cup-shaped member having a resilient diaphragm portion formed integral therewith at one end of said cup-shaped member, said diaphragm portion centrally connected to said armature, an annular flange portion formed as an integral part of said cup-shaped member and flared outwardly at the opposite end of said cup-shaped member, an annular ring shaped member supported by said electromagnet and extending about the flared end of said cupshaped member, the flared end of said cupshaped member supported by said electromagnet and positioned within said ring-shaped member so that the latter member firmly holds said cupshaped member in operative relation during the flexing of said diaphragm, annular corrugations formed in said diaphragm portion intermediate said armature and said annular flange portion, said corrugations movable under action of said electromagnet in a direction tending to affect said corrugations so as to develop a tension force continuously increasing in excess of a linear relation as said armature approaches said electromagnet and thereby effect basic correspondence with the changes in the magnetic force of said electromagnet due to such movment of the armature.

2. In an electric regulator of the type including a variable resistance element, an electromagnet, and an armature operated by said electromagnet and operably connected to said variable resistance element; the improvement comprising a one piece cup-shaped member having a resilient diaphragm portion formed integral therewith at one end of said cup-shaped member, said diaphragm portion centrally connected to said armature and resiliently opposing the magnetic force of said electromagnet, a flange portion formed as an integral part of said cupshaped member and projecting outwardly at the opposite end of said cup-shaped member, another member supported by said electromagnet and extending about the flange portion of said cup-shaped member, the flanged portion of said cup-shaped member supported by said electromagnet and positioned within said other member so that the other member may further support and center said cup-shapedmember in .operative relation and during the flexing of said diaphragm.

CLETUS J. JENNY. THOMAS F. PRYOR, III.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES LPATENTS Date Gartner Apr. 22, 194'? 

